She's a nag and proud of it
Janet Oursler offers her personal history as a warning
By SUSAN MARSHALL
News editor
Janet Oursler has been more careful than most people about watching out for cancer warning signs. Her immediate family members seem to have accumulated more types of cancer than most families have to face in several generations.
"Yes, we seem to have quite a few varieties," she said. "My mom had breast cancer and uterine cancer. My dad had skin cancer and brain cancer.
"Richard, my brother, has had two bouts with lymphoma and my sister Judy has breast cancer."
Oursler faced the dreaded disease herself in 2004.
An annual checkup and mammogram in March of that year showed nothing. But her cholesterol was high and her doctor recommended she lose some weight. So she went on a diet and lost about 20 pounds.
"Then in October I found a lump during a self-exam," she said. "I went right back to the doctor, but she thought it was probably just a cyst and she said we'd 'watch it' for awhile.
"Even with my history, she was not alarmed."
But Oursler was uncomfortable with the wait and finally got an ultrasound and another mammogram on Dec. 2, followed by a biopsy on Dec. 13. The biopsy indicated the lump was malignant.
On Dec. 20, a surgeon removed her right breast and four lymph nodes.
"It wasn't a very good Christmas," she recalls. "I didn't have my shopping done, I was uncomfortable, and depressed. I guess we got through it."
Oursler had eight chemotherapy treatments that began on Feb. 1, 2005, and ended nearly five months later on June 28.
Oursler said she and her husband David had a rough time at first. The words "stage 2" and "invasive" were part of the explanation of her diagnosis.
"The day I got the news I practically collapsed," she said. "You can't imagine what happens when you hear those words.
"My sister Jolene came over and she and David and I cried and cried," she remembered. "I thought for sure it was a death sentence."
But Oursler said, "At some point I just decided, OK, I've got it, now I'm going to whip it."
Her oncologist is affiliated with Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Newton.
"Be positive, that's what they told me," she said. "EVERYONE over at the Cancer Treatment Center said that over and over
"So I decided that was the road I would take and it has helped with my attitude. I am just not going to dwell on it. I am not going to let it run my life."
Oursler has, however, made a mission of being relentless about reminding other women to get their checkups and do regular self-exams.
"My daughters are 25 and 31. They have both gotten their baseline mammograms," she said. "I have pushed them pretty hard, but it is important. They have this family health history to live with so they need to be aware."
Oursler is a para-professional for Marion County Special Education Cooperative. She works at Peabody-Burns Elementary School. And she speaks out frequently to the women she works with about getting checked.
"There just is no excuse good enough NOT to do it," she said. "October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and I use that to remind women, too."
Oursler also is team leader for the "Shine a Light" team in this weekend's Relay for Life. This is her first relay as a team leader, but her third relay.
"Our youngest daughter Melissa got us all started. She lives in Salina and after my surgery she contacted the American Cancer Society and asked what she could do," said Oursler. "They told her about the relay and she got a team together. She has done it for three years also."
Oursler also got another Peabody woman, Beth Peter, to enter her team in the Marion County relay. "She had been doing the relay in Wichita with a group of friends. I asked her if she would consider bringing them here and she did," said Oursler. This will be the first year there are two teams from Peabody.
In addition to Oursler, members of the "Shine a Light" team are: Judy Claassen, Rosie Gibson, Martha Kortje, Heather LaRue, Mikki Oursler, McKayla Oursler, Trisha Oursler, Sharon Pickens, Dinah Richmond, Marion Rosine, Jennafer Sevart, Kristi Silvernale, Brenda Sowers, Belinda Robinson, Bev Wilson, and Katy Woodruff.
"If I had one piece of advice to offer it would be to get to a doctor if you are suspicious of something.
"Get yourself checked and know your body so that if something doesn't seem right, you can tell your doctor," she said. "If you aren't comfortable with the diagnosis or if you think the doctor should be more aggressive in looking at whatever concerns you either say so or get a second opinion."
Oursler had re-constructive surgery in April and she is taking a drug that helps inhibit the re-occurrence of breast cancer. She will be on the drug for the next five years.
"Now I only have to see the oncologist every six months," she said. "I admit to getting a little concerned just before going in for a checkup. But like I said, I am not going to let it rule my life. I refuse to worry about it all the time."
Oursler will walk with other Marion County survivors this weekend and do her part to raise money to battle breast cancer. She and her family are committed.
And after the relay is over for this year, she will be back at raising that other thing people need to battle cancer — awareness.
"I can't say it enough," she said. "Don't put it off, don't let your wife or mother or daughter put it off. Get checked. Be smart. Be aware."
